Netanyahu threatens to intensify attacks against Iran in Syria after U.S. exit
December 21st, 20180 TEL AVIV — Israel will escalate its attacks against Iranian-aligned forces in Syria after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. Some Israeli officials have said President Trump’s move, announced on Wednesday, could help Iran by removing a U.S. garrison that...
Trump orders withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria, claims victory against ISIS
December 21st, 20180 WASHINGTON — President Trump has begun what will be a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, declaring on Wednesday they have succeeded in their mission to defeat ISIS and were no longer needed in the country. A decision to pull out completely, confirmed by U.S. officials, coincides with the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops finishing...
Israel will authorize thousands of illegal settler homes in occupied West Bank
December 14th, 20180 TEL AVIV — Israel will authorize thousands of the settler homes built illegally in the occupied West Bank, some of them decades ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. The move is likely to please pro-settler members of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition while further angering Palestinians, who want the West...
Jordanians stage new anti-austerity protests in the capital
December 14th, 20180 AMMAN — Jordanian authorities deployed hundreds of riot police in the capital and warned activists to stay within the law on Thursday as hundreds of demonstrators staged more protests against tough austerity measures backed by the International Monetary Fund. Large demonstrations in the summer over an unpopular IMF-backed tax bill...
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell: Congress has a moral responsibility to end the war in Yemen
December 14th, 20180 WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D- Dearborn) has released an official statement highly critical of continued U.S. military action in Yemen, based in large part on feedback from constituents in her hometown of Dearborn. “Families in my hometown are telling me about horrific conditions," Dingell said in a statement released...
Yemen’s warring parties agree to ceasefire in Hodeidah and U.N. role
December 14th, 20180 RIMBO, Sweden — Yemen’s warring parties agreed on Thursday to cease fighting for the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah and withdraw their troops, the first significant breakthrough for U.N.-led peace efforts in five years of conflict. At the close of a week of talks in Sweden, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a...
U.S. Senate deals Trump double rebuke on Saudi Arabia
December 14th, 20180 WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate delivered a rare double rebuke to President Trump on Saudi Arabia on Thursday, voting to end U.S. military support for the war in Yemen and blaming the Saudi crown prince for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The votes were largely symbolic because to become law the resolutions would have to pass...
Hopeful start to Yemen talks in Stockholm: Free thousands of prisoners
December 9th, 20180 STOCKHOLM — Yemen’s warring sides agreed to free thousands of prisoners on Thursday, in what a U.N. mediator called a hopeful start to the first peace talks in years to end a war that has pushed millions of people on the verge of starvation. U.N. mediator Martin Griffiths told a news conference in a renovated castle outside...
Congresswoman-elect Rashida Tlaib to lead delegation to Israeli-occupied West Bank
December 9th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Due in large part to the abundance of pro-Israel lobbying from organizations like AIPAC, Congressmen and Congresswomen in the United States have largely avoided pledging any support for Palestinians, vocal or otherwise. But newly-elected Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from the 13th District,...
U.S. fails to win enough support at U.N. to condemn Hamas
December 7th, 20180 UNITED NATIONS — A U.S. attempt to get the United Nations to condemn the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the first time failed on Thursday because the draft resolution fell short of votes needed in the General Assembly. The resolution required two-thirds support and while Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can carry...
America mourns the 41st president, George H. W. Bush
December 7th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — St. Martin's Episcopal Church was the site of Wednesday's memorial service for former President George H. W. Bush, a Republican and father of six, including his eldest son, President George W. Bush. Bush, 94, the nation's 41st president, had been battling several diseases in recent years, including vascular...
Lebanese man fined $50 million, sent to prison for helping Hezbollah
December 7th, 20180 WASHINGTON — A Lebanese businessman sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for being an important financial supporter of Hezbollah pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges associated with evading U.S. sanctions imposed on him, the U.S. Justice Department said. Kassim Tajideen, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiring with at least five...
Francis to become first pope to visit Arabian peninsula
December 7th, 20180 VATICAN CITY — The first visit by a pope to the Arabian peninsula will take place in February when Pope Francis travels to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the Vatican said on Thursday. The Feb. 3-5 trip, Francis’ latest to a predominantly Muslim nation, will be centered around the theme of inter-religious peace. The...
Israel asks Lebanon to destroy tunnel allegedly dug by Hezbollah across border
December 7th, 20180 Israel asked Lebanon’s army and U.N. peacekeepers on Thursday to destroy a tunnel it said had been dug by the Hezbollah group across the border into what it called its territory. Israel’s occupation forces said this week it had identified a number of passages and sent diggers and troops close the front line with Lebanon to block...
King of Malaysia marries former Miss Moscow
December 2nd, 20180 MOSCOW —Photos surfaced on Facebook revealing that 49-year-old King of Malaysia Muhammad V of Kelantan married the 25-year old former Miss Moscow. The photos and a video clip were posted to Facebook Friday. Russian beauty queen Oksana Voevodina apparently married the Malaysian king in Barvikha, a luxury village in Moscow......
From Gaza to Dearborn: Mohammed Abu Hussein lost his leg, but not his hope
December 2nd, 20180 DEARBORN – The Palestinian struggle carries countless stories of suffering and injustice. Such is the case with Mohammed Abu Hussein, a young Palestinian boy who lost his right leg in June during the Great March of Return along the Gaza border against the Israeli occupation. Mohammed is currently in Dearborn, where he will receive a...
The mother of all Arabic dictionaries makes its debut online
December 1st, 20180 WEST BANK — A computer science professor at Birzeit University has built an online tool called Arabic Ontology that is both a comprehensive dictionary of Arabic and a system that will enable the creation of new Arabic-language software, such as better machine translation. Mustafa Jarrar, an associate professor in the department of......
Senate votes 63-37, advances measure to end U.S. support for Saudi war on Yemen
November 30th, 20180 WASHINGTON — While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was lobbying senators on Capitol Hill not to "pack up and abandon" the U.S. role in the Saudi-led coalition war on Yemen, the Senate voted 63-37 to consider a measure that would do just that, ending U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen. The vote was a...
Mattis: Yemen peace talks likely in early December
November 24th, 20180 WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties are likely to take place in early December in Sweden. Western countries are pressing for a ceasefire and renewed peace efforts to end the more than three-year long conflict, which is seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia...
Trump praises Saudi Arabia amid mounting pressure to sanction ally
November 23rd, 20180 WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, President Trump praised Saudi Arabia for helping to lower oil prices as pressure intensified for the U.S. to impose tougher sanctions on its Arab ally over dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. In a tweet, Trump thanked Riyadh for the recent drop in oil prices and called for prices to go...
Iran sticking to nuclear deal, rules out renegotiation with U.S.
November 22nd, 20180 Iran has no intention of renegotiating the 2015 nuclear deal, as demanded by the U.S., Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said. Speaking at an international conference in Rome, Zarif said the Iranian people will endure U.S. sanctions. Iran sticking to nuclear deal, IAEA says, amid new U.S. sanctions Iran is implementing......
U.S. deals another blow to Palestinians, merges consulate in east Jerusalem with embassy
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is merging the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem into the new U.S. Embassy there, a move critics say is the latest U.S. slap at the Palestinians and one that could further undermine hopes for a two-state solution. The U.S. Consulate General effectively functioned as a direct point of contact...
Nissan to fire Ghosn after arrest for alleged financial misconduct
November 19th, 20180 Nissan Motor Company Chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested on Monday for alleged financial misconduct and will be fired from the board this week, a dramatic fall for a leader hailed for rescuing the Japanese carmaker from close to bankruptcy. Nissan said an internal investigation, triggered by a tip-off from a whistleblower, had revealed......
Fewer Arab students head for U.S. to study, report shows
November 19th, 20180 WASHINGTON — Fewer Arab students are choosing to study at universities in the U.S. than in the previous year, according to a report published on Tuesday, while the number of American students going to the Middle East has surged modestly. The Institute of International Education’s 2018 Open Doors report shows that in the last...
Former Bahraini minister warns of joint Arab-Israel conspiracy against Palestine
November 18th, 20180 Former Bahraini Minister Mohammad Ali Fakhro, a board member of the Arab Anti-Corruption Organization, criticized the Arab world’s normalization with Israel, blaming these ties for Tel Aviv’s continuous targeting of Palestinians, Arabi21 reported on Wednesday. “The Israeli occupation continues its efforts to get rid of the......
